2. Canned cocktailsSame quick idea as above, though there’s certainly more variety in can form. We dig Cutwater Spirits, a former offshoot from the forward-thinking Ballast Point brewery in San Diego, which transforms its proprietary line of booze into a tasty cans of Bloody Marys, rum and gingers, rum and colas, and gin and tonics.

3. Cocktail syrupsThis takes an extra step or two, but the great thing here is you can use the booze you already have on hand. W&P already makes a great travel cocktail kit and some of our favorite barware — their assorted Craft spritz, Old Fashioned and spicy margarita syrups are certainly a step above the usual chain store mixers.

4. Cocktail kitsKits take a bit more work, but they’re designed to give you everything you need in a box (sans the booze). Just launched this week, Dollar Cocktail Club boldly claims “they’re not rocket science,” and the kits we tried made for fun, interesting cocktails for about 12 people (quick review: maybe avoid the “spicy” part of the margarita mix ... ouch!). They also have recipes for party batching.

Another good kit:Cocktail Courier, which allows you order the drink mixes with booze or without

6. Barware for dummiesThere are dozens of varieties of the cocktail shaker with cocktail recipes printed on the side — we like the Final Touch because the glass is really strong and the measurements are printed in both ounces and millimeters.

If you don’t want to shake:Batch Bottles allow you to make stirred cocktails to exact measurements for large groups.

7. Use booze and mixers that are versatile.The simple Old Fashioned doesn’t have to have bourbon — we’ve had great luck with dark rums and mezcal. Speaking of which, we were hanging out with Montelobos co-founder Ivan Saldana this week, and he (correctly) noted that his mezcal can easily work in both whiskey and gin drinks. The Takeout did a great piece earlier this fall on utilizing those one-off booze purchases getting dusty on your shelves (Chambord, Sambuca, Triple Sec, etc.) to make cocktails you hadn’t thought of. Oh, and ginger beer. My God, that goes with everything.

8. When all else fails, use technologyEarlier this year, we had a chance to try Barsys, a robotic bartender that fits on your (large) countertop. Stock it with five base spirits and three mixers, and the device quickly and efficiently mixes a variety of mixed cocktails. It’s really a conversation starter more than anything.

Another machine option: We haven’t tried it yet, but Drinkworks is the just-announced Keurig for cocktails and beer. Tell your office manager.